Thursday: Mother's Day gift guide time + lots of content to share + job leads!
Happy Thursday!
Sometimes you’re so embroiled in email quicksand that you lose track of half a day without realizing…
(Travel and gift guide time in the same week is sure to do that to your inbox!)
Anywho, starting tomorrow, I’ll be knee deep in Passover prep and cooking for the rest of the weekend so I really wanted to get all this out to you ahead of that… (and yes, I’ll be sharing lots of cooking vids and images on my Instagram as always!).
FYI: Muck Rack’s 2025 State of Journalism survey is now open (you may recall I participated in their webinar last year), and this year, they added questions on topics like AI’s growing influence and the rise of self-publishing. (This is last year’s report for reference.) Absolutely worth checking out and participating -a great way to have your voice be heard!
As I have mentioned in the past, I’m on the committee of food and travel journalists that work on nominations for the Newsweek Readers Choice awards in a variety of categories. Newly published categories today include nominees from among some of our subscribers and their clients! These categories include Best Full-Service Airport Restaurants, Best Cat Café and Best Pet Food Delivery Service.
I also have assorted other newly published content to share this week. For Apartment Therapy: I Tried the Pomodoro Technique for Tax Prep — Here’s Why I’ll Never Do It Another Way and also for Apartment Therapy: I Create a “KFP Area” for Passover Every Year, and It Keeps My Home So Organized Every Time.
And for FoodNetwork.com: 2025 Tax Season Food Deals At Restaurants Nationwide (there’s some great deals in here - and all of them came from your emails!).
Job lead
American Airlines is hiring for a Manager of Corporate Communications on the Commercial team. The ideal candidate will be a natural storyteller who loves connecting brand and corporate initiatives to timely consumer trends through both earned and owned media. This is a great opportunity to join a smart and FUN team making big moves that drive big impact.
Limited-time deals on consulting sessions and ad placement!
Reminder: I’m offering a limited-time special consulting session discount for paid subscribers: If you are a paid subscriber, you can for a limited time, get 25% off a virtual consulting session (where we can have your own private or agency-wide AMA session on anything you want to chat about!) — I have some slots open in the next few weeks, so if you or your agency is interested in booking one, email me today and we’ll chat details.
Flash sale: If you book a group subscription for your agency, you may be eligible for a FREE consulting session for your team (if you buy 12 or more seats as part of your annual group subscription). Email me so we can discuss!
I’m also offering a seasonal special on advertising in this newsletter. I’d love to place your sponsored posts and advertising in this substack, which goes out to nearly 10,000 media professionals every single day; Note: I do limit advertising to only what would be of interest to my readers, but am open to both short paragraph blurbs and dedicated posts - if you are interested in chatting details and scheduling something, please email me at alywalansky@gmail.com today!
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Thank you for helping get the word out!
We had an amazing turnout at our recent Mother’s Day gift guide pitching workshop — and there’s a full recording available for paid subscribers. If you are interested in me sending you the video link, drop me an email. Thanks so much for your support and happy gift guide pitching!
Related: We loved how many of attended you took the time to attend our webinar event last month, covering the upcoming ShareASale to Awin migration. We covered an overview of the migration process and timeline, pricing of networks, and choosing a network for your specific client needs. If you missed it, we do have a recording available for paid subscribers. Email if interested and I’ll share how to grab that recording as well!
Looking to up your affiliate marketing game?
Affiliate marketing is complicated, and it seems that the landscape keeps changing. If you are looking to be prepared for gift guide season and all other shopping-related content, you may want to try the Ultimate Masterclass and Introduction to Affiliate Marketing for Publicists. It's a brilliant course and it'll answer all your questions (including some you didn't know you had!)
Newly published or freshly updated
Since people are often asking about the status of stories from a while ago, and I only share stories in this newsletter that were published or updated in the current week, I have created a list of my author pages at various publications to which I contribute. Bookmark it and make your life a bit easier.
Apartment Therapy: I Tried the Pomodoro Technique for Tax Prep — Here’s Why I’ll Never Do It Another Way
Apartment Therapy: I Create a “KFP Area” for Passover Every Year, and It Keeps My Home So Organized Every Time
FoodNetwork.com: 2025 Tax Season Food Deals At Restaurants Nationwide
Today.com: Best drugstore wrinkle creams 2025, according to experts
Forbes.com: The Pizza Martini Creates A Sippable Version Of Everyone’s Favorite Snack
Forbes.com: 7 Celebratory Cocktails To Enjoy This Passover
Forbes.com: 17 Spring-Inspired Cocktails To Enjoy This Easter
Forbes.com: 15 Sustainable Cocktails To Enjoy During Earth Month
Travel & Leisure: I Travel Solo Often, and I Won’t Stay in Another Airbnb Without Packing This 1 Safety Device
Yahoo Life!: Best pedometers of 2025, tested and reviewed
Yahoo Life: The best black tea to brew in 2025, according to testers and experts
Travel & Leisure: I Found the Perfect Walking Shoes to Prevent Sore Feet During Travel — Score Styles on Sale Up to 62% Off
Apartment Therapy: The $3 Cleaning Gem I Use in Almost Every Room of My Small Apartment
Food Network: Popeyes Is Bringing Its Most Popular Sauces to Grocery Aisles.
Southern Living: KFC Is Bringing Back Their Most-Requested Side—But For 2 Weeks Only
Travel & Leisure: In-flight Theft Is Unfortunately a Thing, but These 12 Items Give Me Peace of Mind When I'm Traveling by Plane
Apartment Therapy: I Asked Pro Travelers to Share Their Packing Tips for Spring Break
RetailMeNot: How to Save Money on Groceries in 2025: 10 Tips That Actually Work
Southern Living: The Unexpected Reason I Always Travel With Duct Tape—And You Should Too
If you or your client are featured in any of these stories, I super appreciate any social media shares! Please remember to tag @alywalansky and the outlet.
Here’s what I’m working on:
Be sure to read the below list carefully. Many are stories I posted about yesterday, but some of yesterday's stories are no longer listed and a few new ones have been added since yesterday. This (below) is everything that is still a currently open opportunity as of today.
Please remember when pitching me: Email me at alywalansky@gmail.com - do NOT just hit reply on this newsletter, or there’s a good shot your email will be lost in the heap. Give your email a subject line that makes it clear which story you are pitching me for — it’ll help you in the long run.
Please consult my industry insights guides on submitting expert commentary, sending emails that will catch a journalist’s attention, how to craft pitches journalists will say ‘yes’ to, and the right and wrong way to submit photos, if you need any extra guidance before sending your pitches.
Newsweek Reader’s Choice Nominations
As I have mentioned in the past, I’m on the committee of food and travel journalists that work on nominations for the Newsweek Readers Choice awards in a variety of categories. Currently working on Best Meal Delivery Kits (nominees will be based on Food Quality: Are fresh ingredients provided? Is the food organic? Seasonal? Are the kits shipped in refrigerated boxes? Are steps taken to prevent cross contamination? Affordability: What is the cost per meal? How many meals are included in a subscription? How many people can the kit serve? Ease of Use: Are the recipes easy to follow? Are the instructions clear? Are the recipes easy to cook? Food Options: Are there options available for special dietary needs? Is there a variety of meals to choose from? Can subscribers skip/substitute a meal? (if applicable) Availability: How often do subscribers receive meals? (if applicable) Are all meals available year-round or are the meals based on seasonality?
Forbes
Mother’s Day Gift Guide: Ways to treat a long distance mom to a perfect Mother's Day dinner date - think in-home wine experiences and private chefs but also like a situation where you can ship a complete meal that just needs to be prepped or heated. For this one, trying to avoid the giant broader businesses with ready-made meals but more specific, regional or niche ones like the Maine Lobster option would be great.
How To Enhance Springtime Recipes With Specialty Pantry Items And Chef-Approved Tips - this is more of a how-to/explainer than a product/shopping guide, but I’m still totally open to include products that serve the story, and very up for chef commentary!
I’m still taking pitches of Mother’s Day inspired cocktails available at bars and restaurants!
I’m also still open to Passover-friendly cocktails at bars and restaurants.
Also: lavender is so hot right now! I’m looking for dishes and cocktails at restaurants and bars that incorporate lavender (usual format applies here - make sure to include name of drink, description, quote from chef/bartender, and an image when pitching)
<3
aly
Happy Passover Aly!